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PointClips
reviewed by Geetesh Bajaj, May 22nd 2007
Introduction
About PointClips
Downloading PointClips
Using PointClips
Pricing and Support
Conclusion
Introduction
Visuals make a presentation look good -- but users expect more
from visuals in PowerPoint these days. They want the visuals to
be kind to the presentation file size, and animate well. Most visual
types don't live up to those expectations since they are sourced
from clip media collections created for general use including the
print and web. None of these collections were specifically created
for PowerPoint. Most of these characteristics are shared by the
phenomenal amount of clip art that Microsoft provides from its
site.
Also, most of this sourced visual content cannot be readily edited
or recolored in PowerPoint.
PointClips, the product that I am reviewing today surprisingly
overcomes all these limitations because all this content is created
within PowerPoint itself -- using PowerPoint's own drawing tools!
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About PointClips
PointClips is from Koke
Creative, a company headed by Jeff Koke that is based
in Austin, Texas, USA. You can learn more about PointClips and
download a free sample presentation containing PointClips visuals
at their
site...
I asked Jeff about what sets PointClips apart -- here's
his response:
Being vector illustrations, their main advantage is flexibility:
they can be scaled to any size, from a tiny icon or bullet, to
a graphic that fills the slide -- all without any loss of detail
or quality (no jagged, pixellated edges); they have transparent
backgrounds, so they can be placed on top of other elements without
white boxes around them; and they are easily editable by ungrouping
their components and editing the colors or individual points. If
needed in other applications, they can be copied and pasted into
Word or Excel, or exported as JPEG or PNG for any other application,
including web sites.
You can read the rest of Jeff's conversation on my blog...
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Downloading PointClips
PointClips is available as both individual clips and packages:
Once you buy individual clips or a package, you can download it
immediately after purchase.
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Using PointClips
Follow these steps to use PointClips:
- Open the downloaded individual clips or packages -- you'll
see this is actually comprises PowerPoint slide(s) containing
the clip/icon, as shown in Figure
1.
Figure 1: Slide containing a clip
- Select the clip/icon, right click and choose Copy from the
context menu. Open other presentation, navigate to the slide
on which you want to place the clip/icon, right click and choose
Paste from the context menu.
- Clips/icons are fully scalable, click on it to select it,
and click and drag from any of the four corners of the select
box to scale it. Select and drag the clip/icon to move it to
the desired position.
You can also ungroup the clip as a native PowerPoint object.
Right click on the clip/icon, and choose Grouping | Ungroup,
as shown in Figure
2
Figure 2: Ungroup clip/icon
Once ungrouped, you can select any of the individual elements
-- and animate them in sequence to create a build. You can also
edit these drawings and alter the shapes -- to do that, right
click on the ungrouped element and choose Edit Points from the
context menu.
Of course, you can also change the fill and line colors of individual,
ungrouped elements.
Also, since Word and Excel use the same drawing engine as PowerPoint,
you can always paste these clips into your Word and Excel files
as well.
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Pricing & Support
Individual PointClips cost $5.00 whereas PointClip packages cost
$99.00 each. Payments are through online secure servers -- and
you can pay by credit card.
Support is through email and an online FAQ.
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In Conclusion
PointClips is a great collection -- but its biggest drawback is
the limited number of PointClips available -- and hopefully that
will change soon. Beyond that, this is an awesome collection that
takes full advantage of PowerPoint's powerful drawing engine.
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